The return of the Chrysler Viper to the Le Mans 24 Hours was confirmed in Paris on Friday when race organisers unveiled the entry list for this year’s race.
Two GTE Pro class Viper GTS-Rs have been entered under by the Riley Technologies-run SRT Motorsports team, which is masterminding the US muscle car’s return to racing.
The cars will be badged as SRTs after after Chrysler’s Street & Racing Tuning brand.
Marc Goossens and Dominik Farnbacher, who were both part of SRT’s partial campaign in the American Le Mans Series in 2012, have been slated as the drivers of the car.
SRT director Beth Paretta, whose remit covers motorsport, said: “Our goal in our first year was to be invited. We are so excited to be returning to Le Mans; we couldn’t be more excited about being back on the world stage.”
The two Vipers bolster an impressive GTE Pro class that includes two factory AstonMartin Vantage GTEs and two 991-shaped Porsche 911 GT3-RSRs, to be fielded by a Manthey-run works team.
ACO sporting director Vincent Beaumesnil said: “I don’t think I have seen so many great GT cars on the grid. We have five manufacturers with two cars each, who are all are going to be battling it out at Le Mans.”
There are only eight LMP1 prototypes on the entry for Le Mans, including three Audis and two Toyotas.
This follows the late withdrawal of the British JRM squad, which has opted to withdraw for financial reasons, and OAK Racing’s decision to focus its P1 programme on the development of its all-new 2014 car.
2013 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list: LMP1 1. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Andre Lotterer 2. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Tom Kristensen 3. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Marc Gene 7. Toyota Racing Toyota Alex Wurz 8. Toyota Racing Toyota Anthony Davidson 12. Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota Nicolas Prost 13. Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota Neel Jani 21. Strakka Racing HPD-Honda Nick Leventis LMP2 24. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan Jacques Nicolet 25. Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan John Martin 26. G-Drive Racing ORECA-Nissan Roman Rusinov 27. Sebastien Loeb Racing ORECA-Nissan Franck Montagny 28. Gulf Racing Middle East Lola-Nissan Fabien Giroix 29. Gulf Racing Middle East Lola-Nissan Frederic Fatien 30. HVM Status GP Lola-Judd Jonathan Kennard 31. Lotus Lotus Kevin Weeda 32. Lotus Lotus Thomas Holzer 33. Level 5 Motorsports HPD-Honda Scott Tucker 35. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan Olivier Pla 36. Signatech ORECA-NIssan Franck Maillieux 38. Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan Simon Dolan 40. Boutsen Ginion Racing ORECA-Nissan Koen Wauters 41. Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Christian Zugel 42. Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Tom Kimber-Smith 44. Starworks Motorsport HPD-Honda Alex Popow 45. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan David Heinemeier Hansson 46. Thiriet by TDS ORECA-Nissan Piere Thiriet 47. KCMG Morgan-Nissan Alexandre Imperatori 48. Murphy Prototypes ORECA-Nissan Brendon Hartley GTE Pro 51. AF Corse Ferrari Gianmaria Bruni 66. JMW Motorsport Ferrari Tim Sugden 71. AF Corse Ferrari Olivier Beretta 73. Corvette Racing Corvette Antonio Garcia 74. Corvette Racing Corvette Oliver Gavin 91. Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche Marc Lieb 92. Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche Jorg Bergmeister 93. SRT Motorsports Viper Marco Goossens 94. SRT Motorsports Viper Dominik Farnbacher 97. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Darren Turner 99. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Stefan Mucke GTE Am 50. Larbre Competition Corvette Patrick Bornhauser 54. AF Corse Ferrari Yannick Mallegol 55. AF Corse Ferrari Piergiuseppe Perazzini 57. Krohn Racing Ferrari Tracy Krohn 61. AF Corse Ferrari Jack Gerber 67. Imsa Performance Porsche Pascal Gibon 70. Larbre Competition Corvette Pedro Lamy 76. Imsa Performance Porsche Raymond Narac 77. Dempsey Proton Porsche Patrick Dempsey 80. Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari Scott Sharp 81. 8Star Motorsports Ferrari Enzo Potolicchio 88. Proton Competition Porsche Christian Ried 95. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Allan Simonsen 96. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Roald Goethe Garage 56** 56. Green GT Green GT Christian Pescatori Reserves (in order of priority) LMP2
34. Race Performance ORECA-Judd Michel Frey 43. Morand Racing Morgan-Judd Natacha Gachnang 39. DKR Engineering Lola-Judd Olivier Porta 37. Signatech ORECA-Nissan Pierre Ragues 23. Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan Shinji Nakano 20. HVM Status GP Lola-Judd Warren Hughes GTE 98. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Stuart Hall (Am) 75. ProSpeed Competition Porsche Abdulaziz Al Faisal (Am) 52. Ram Racing Ferrari Johnny Mowlem (Pro) 90. TRG AMR North America Aston Martin Kevin Buckler (Am)
*Drivers named for administrative purposes only and are subject to change.
** Will run outside general classification.
Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/viper-confirms-le-mans-return
Mika Häkkinen Bruce Halford Jim Hall Duncan Hamilton Lewis Hamilton
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